I thought the yucs were supposed to challenge the Saints and the bird droppings for the NFC South title?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not been good at tackling in recent years. In fact, one could say they were godawful. So godawful that it cost Raheem Morris his job. Wrapping up? It seems like no Buccaneer had ever heard of that these past few seasons. Ronde Barber and Tanard Jackson were the worst offenders in this respect, at least if we can believe Pro Football Focus's numbers. They figure Jackson and Barber were the worst two tacklers among defensive backs the past three years. Barber missed 50 tackles in 3,068 snaps. But Jackson's numbers are even more ludicrous: 43 missed tackles in just 1,454 snaps - half the snaps Barber got.

The Bucs have released Tanard Jackson after a failed physical earlier this offseason, seemingly fixing the problem of a leaky free safety position. Except, they have now replaced him with Ronde Barber - the only defensive back to miss more tackles over that same amount of time. That is problematic. A safety, especially a free safety, is supposed to be the team's last line of defense. If a player gets into the secondary, that safety has to make the tackle to stop a touchdown. But can the Bucs trust Barber to do this consistently? The numbers say they can't.